Death specialist bowler of India Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been named in the newly introduced A+ bracket of BCCI pay grade for the season 2017-18. India's all-format bowling specialists join seasoned performers like of skipper Virat Kohli, opening batsmen Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan in the top category and will earn Rs. 7 Crore as their annual retainer for the period September 2017-October 2018. Apart from the newly introduced Grade A+, BCCI has ensured a massive pay hike for the remaining grades. Cricketers under the A bracket, who previously used to earn INR 2 Crore per annum, will now earn INR 5 crore, Grade B cricketers will earn INR 3 Crore - a two crore increase from the previous season, while the Grade C cricketers' pay has been doubled and they will now earn INR 1 Crore per annum.

The latest contract announcement comes a few months after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) met India captain Kohli, former skipper MS Dhoni and head coach Ravi Shastri, in the presence of BCCI CEO, to discuss player salaries and the playing schedule.

The A bracket consisted of Test regulars like spinner R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha, with the Test wicket keeper-batsman being the lone promotion in the group. Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal were elevated to Group B, having been in the C category last season, while new contractee Kuldeep Yadav was listed under Group B. Yuvraj Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Amit Mishra and the recently-retired Ashish Nehra were among the exclusions.